Thread: BB chevy in a 67 cad

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Here's another sacrilegious engine swap question.

Does anyone know how much grief and hassle it is to swap a 454, (with a TH400 that fits it), into a 67 Caddy?
I am mostly concerned about oil pan/crossmember/ steering parts not clearing each other. The wiring, plumbing and all that is no issue for us, I can move motor mounts as well, but if we have to start cutting firewalls or pans or crossmembers or move steering boxes I'm going to pass on doing the job, as it would be easier to build the wore out caddy motor.

This is not my car, I am asking for my neighbor, who asked me to help him with the swap if it was possible to do without turning it into a career.

Thanks for reading this,
Mikey

Yeah the cad engine is front sump,a 500 from a 71-76 deville or seville would be easier, eldorado is rear sump also. hank

Why does he want to do it, has a bunch of money laying around and doesn't know what to do with it? MIKEY DON'T DO IT! That Cad motor is the not only what belongs there, unless he spends some time on the 454 performance he will be disappointed.

Why is it the Chevy is ALWAYS thought of to be better some how?

If the excuse has the good running 454 and the Cad motor is shot, heck sell the 454 (there is a line around the block for it) and rebuild the Cad motor. Unless it is a bolt in (don't know) it is ALWAYS easier to work with the original motor. And that Cad is a good one.

Good to see you over here Mikey!!

Brian

Thanks halftanked, HI Brian ,
Here's the deal. A kid who hangs around next door bought this caddy from a car lot. It had some kind of warrantee.

The motor went away, and the dealer messed around with it for a while until they decided it was a bad idea for them to fix it.

So they give the kid back the car with a check for 4G.

He already has a running 454 and came and asked me if I wanted to help get the motor in the car. I told him I would look into what was involved. I did some searches about it, found nothing other than how blasphemous it was to consider anything but a Cad in a Cad.

So I posted this thread.

I am not familiar with caddy motors or 67 cadillac frame structure at all so I figured it was easier to post here and call upon the CHR members vast knowledge, than for me to drive to hollister with a tape measure and crawl around in the dirt for hours .

I will tell the kid to sell the BB and pool that cash into a rebuild of the 429..(although I don't know if the block is trashed. That was never discussed )

Thanks for reading this, mikey

IMO save the CAD. Very tough engine and prolly more horse power than the
Chev. I doubt if the block is shot...I fried a 429 once going to the River,
and it survived. There is still cores out there also.
Good Luck, Ron

Ok, Mikey, I called my brother to go over this in case we are just thinking about the whole Chevy in a Cad. You asked is it possible, well my brother says that this is a VERY difficult swap. Starting with the fact that the Cad is a front sump pan, the Chevy is a rear. So at the very least you need to fab up a pan, and you all know where that leads.

There is no tranny adapter that he knows of. This is not a "BOP" pattern like the 68 and later Cads. So it is a Cad only switch pitch converter tranny. So, he will need a tranny as well. This is NOT a bolt in like putting a big block Chevy in a 72 Cutless being the frame is exactly the same as a Chevelle. That Cad is all by it's self.

Rebuild the Cad motor is my brothers advice.

Brian

Thanks Brian, I am now convinced that it is just not worth the effort to do this swap. Thank Russ for me too.
I am now armed with the knowledge to persuade this young fellow to abandon this exercise in futility. Thanks, shoprat and halftanked, posting this here and getting solid advise has saved me a bunch of time.


Later,
mikey

Quote:

This is not my car, I am asking for my neighbor, who asked me to help him with the swap if it was possible to do without turning it into a career.

Thanks for reading this,
Mikey[/QUOTE]


This is the line that stuck with me throughout this thread. Been there, done that. Everytime I have gotten involved with someone elses Herculean task like this one, I ended up married to that project, and wishing I had never gotten involved in the first place.

It is nice to want to help someone out, but things like this have a habit of turning ugly on you real quick. Somehow the project turns into yours, and goes on and on and on.

Help him rebuild the caddy, it will be much easier and better in the end.

Don

Thanks Don, My problem is that this is my line of work. I don't want to let the kid start anything he can't follow through with, without me winding up doing it myself. I have plenty of work already , and a job like that is only going to turn frustrating for the both of us. I can't donate a tremendous amount of time to it, and if we have to put a dry sump or modify oiling systems or crossmembers he can't afford to do it. Hopefully this thread will stand as a warning to others who would want to try it themselves. Is there smiley that has a head on a stick?


Thanks, Mikey

I agree, sell the 454 and work with the Caddy. If he want's a bigger motor, Cad 472s and 500s are still plentiful and there are even quite a few performance parts for them. Those torque monstors will move that heavy Cad right down the road. For excellent advice and help on Cad motors try here:

http://www.500cid.com

Pat